466
11 July 1944Original map now in the collection of the Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton, Ohio. 447th Bomb Group collection
Timothy Motz
Description
More than 1000 planes bombed Munich. Flak cut our control cables to elevators and rudder. Flew back by wing trim tabs. Shippy spliced cables before landing. Nine hour ride. Flak hit Sgt Rollinger's oxygen mask and injured his nose and eyes.
Mission Details
Description: BOMB TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 6.9T
AUGSBURG (Opportunistic)
Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 77 T
EPPINGEN (Opportunistic)
Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 20.8 T
MUNICH (Primary)
Description: BMW FACTORY
Notes: 3rd Bomb Division was made up of B-17s is 94th Bomb Group, 95 Bomb Group, 96th Bomb Group, 100th Bomb Group, 385th Bomb Group, 388th Bomb Group, 390th Bomb Group, 447th Bomb Group, 452nd Bomb Group.
- Unit Hierarchy: Division
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Combat organisation
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 418 T
MUNICH (Primary)
Description: MARSHALLING YARDS
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 242.5 T
MUNICH (Primary)
Description: MARSHALLING YARDS
Notes: An electrical station and a tire factory also hit. 1st Bomb Division was made up of 91st Bomb Group, 92nd Bomb Group, 303rd Bomb Group, 305th Bomb Group, 306th Bomb Group, 351st Bomb Group, 379th Bomb Group, 381st Bomb Group, 384th Bomb Group, 398th Bomb Group, 401st Bomb Group, 457th Bomb Group. 457th BG - MISSION NO. 86 - MUNICH, GERMANY - 11 JULY, 1944 Munich, in addition to being the fourth largest city in Germany, had become a center of development for a jet propelled aircraft. Intelligence reports indicated planned early use of this plane against American heavy bomber formations. Experimental stations, factories for assembly and fuels, and operational fields, were located at nearby Leipheim, Schwabisch-Hall, Friedrichshafen and Lechfeld. The area also contained the parent BMW aero engine factory, Allach. All of western Europe was overcast and the city presented the right kind of target to be located by PFF means. Twelve hundred heavy bombers were dispatched in a vast operation to hit this center of production. The 457th was directed to attack Allach if visual conditions existed, and the center of Munich if the expected ten-tenths undercast prevailed. Thirty-six planes made up the lead and low boxes of the 94th B Combat Wing. Major Smith was Commander of the lead box and Captain Lady the low box. The Wing was second in the Division formation. Clouds interfered somewhat with the assembly and the routing over England. En route to the English Coast, Lt. Jack W. Gazzal&s left wing tip caught fire and the crew began bailing out. The plane then blew up and the pilot was blown out of the plane. He parachuted safely to earth, together with five members of his crew. Three failed to survive. The redisposition of antiaircraft guns north of Paris had closed the old route to southern Germany. The guns had to be avoided so the route to the target took the formation across the North Sea to the Scheldt Islands and thence due south to the west of Brussels, before a turn toward Munich was made at the northern French border. A complete undercast existed from there to Munich. The heavy concentration of single engine enemy fighters in the Paris region refused to be airborne and give battle. The PFF equipment in both the A and B Wings malfunctioned, so a 360 degree turn was made in order to bring the formation in behind trailing wings for bombing on their more accurately placed smoke markers. Bomb results were unobserved. Only a moderate amount of flak came up through the dense undercast and it was thousands of feet from the formation. No plane received damage. On the way home the enemy fighters still remained on the ground, although one thousand fifty heavy bombers had dropped 2,350 tons of bombs on Munich. Only twenty-four of the 1050 attacking force failed to return.
- Unit Hierarchy: Division
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 788.4 T
MUNICH AUTOBAHN (Opportunistic)
Description: HIGHWAY BRIDGE ON AUTOBAHN
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 2.6 T
MUNICH CENTER (Primary)
Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Notes: 2nd Bomb Division was made up of 44th Bomb Group, 93rd Bomb Group, 389th Bomb Group, 392nd Bomb Group, 445th Bomb Group,446th Bomb Group, 448th Bomb Group, 453rd Bomb Group, 458th Bomb Group, 466th Bomb Group, 467th Bomb Group, 489th Bomb Group, 491st Bomb Group,492nd Bomb Group
- Unit Hierarchy: Division
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Combat organisation
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 681.8 T
MUNICH/REIM (Primary)
Description: AIRFIELD
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 110T
Connections
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People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Master Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner / Flight Engineer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 612th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier / Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 392nd Bomb Group 578th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Rough Riders
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 755th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Big Dick Hard To Hit
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 755th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Miss Lace
Revisions
Mission details added courtesy of Diane Elizabeth Reese from 457th Bomb Group Mission Documents. http://www.457thbombgroup.org/
Lee Cunningham, 8th Air Force missions research database / Stan Bishop's 'Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces', the Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces and the work of Roger Freeman including the 'Mighty Eighth War Diary'.